


The Kiss

by LogicGunn



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Absent-minded Kissing, Cutesy, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 12:41:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20389867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LogicGunn/pseuds/LogicGunn
Summary: John is bored.





	The Kiss

**Author's Note:**

  * For [popkin16](https://archiveofourown.org/users/popkin16/gifts).

> For popkin16 who needs "Some absent minded McShep kisses". First draft is on Tumblr.

John is bored. Elizabeth ordered the entire expedition to take a mandatory rest weekend, barring medical emergencies and/or approaching Wraith hive ships, and most people are engaging in frivolity. Lorne is painting out on the East pier; Teyla is on the mainland with Kanaan; Ronon disappeared through the stargate yesterday to locations unknown with an assortment of hunting weapons and three coils of 550 paracord (“Be back tomorrow.”); the Marines jury-rigged an obstacle course out on the West pier from pieces of a downed hive ship (Oorah!) and the scientists took over the mess with setups of various games and debates. John hasn’t seen Elizabeth all day, isn’t sure where she went and probably doesn’t  _ want _ to know, and Rodney? He ran to the labs to do some hardcore, theoretical simulations after breakfast yesterday and hasn’t surfaced since. 

Day One was okay; John spent the morning driving golf balls off a private balcony near his quarters (he got 500 as a birthday present from Rodney), having alone time in the gym (where he didn't have to do an extra twenty pull-ups because the marines were all outside, thank god), reading a whole chapter of War and Peace (which put him way ahead of schedule) and polishing his golf clubs to a chrome shine. By the afternoon he ran out of things to do so he borrowed an LSD and snuck to his office to get caught up on paperwork. Sure, it goes against the spirit of Elizabeth’s orders  _ (paper-’ _ _ work’ _ _ ) _ but he considered it to be sedentary enough to be not-really-work. Still, he won’t tell Elizabeth (though she’ll probably guess when she opens her inbox on not-Monday). 

On Day Two John wakes up rested and eager, but after his shower/shave/coffee he slips rapidly into soul-crushing boredom of the kind that can cause a man to despair. There’s only one cure for it – badgering Rodney. He tries Rodney's room (empty, bed made, hmm), then the mess (nope), then makes his way to the labs. Rodney's personal lab is empty, as is the main lab, but he finally finds him sitting cross-legged on the floor in the ascension research lab (laptop hardwired into a console) where the energy creature used to be contained. 

“Rawd-ney,” drawls John, leaning in the doorway. 

“Hey Colonel.” 

“Watcha doin’?” 

“Research.” 

“Here?” 

“Yes, here. I’m looking at the specs of the containment vessel. The idea of using subspace as storage has some serious scientific merit. Imagine if we could strand all the Wraith there? Or how much popcorn we could store for Teyla?” 

Both of those are very good ideas, enough to spark John’s interest and distract him from impending death-by-ennui. He crouches down behind Rodney and peers over his shoulder at the laptop screen. 

“Jesus, Rodney, it’s all in Ancient.” 

“Well, yes, obviously. That’s why I’ve not had time to do this before. My ancient isn’t all that great and it takes me a while to go through their notes.” 

“You know, I think this counts as work.” 

“Says Mr. Paperwork. I got fifteen emails from you yesterday.” 

“Okay, you got me there-” 

“And seriously, when else am I going to have the time to look into this?” 

“Point.” 

“Oh my god...” 

John waits a beat but Rodney doesn't elaborate. 

“Yes?” 

“ Oh, the implications...I can’t believe I didn’t...” Rodney taps his earpiece. “Radek! Come down to the AR lab...yes, right now...no it can’t wait...” 

John realises that A: whatever Rodney is excited about isn’t going to be interesting to anyone other than him and Radek until they’ve figured it out and B: he’s not going to be able to distract Rodney from this. 

“I’ll leave you to it.”

“Huh? Oh yeah, sure, okay.” Rodney turns to John, eyes still on the screen and kisses him softly on the cheek. “See you later.” 

John falls back on his ass, stunned.  _ Jesus-shit-fuck-what _ ? But Rodney isn’t even aware of him anymore, his mind is 100% focused on his screen and he’s mumbling calculations to himself. So John does the thing everyone does when they’re in shock – he retreats to his comfort zone (his room), throws himself into bed (boots still on) and hides there for the rest of the day, resolutely not thinking about the kiss (which of course means it’s all he thinks about). Rodney’s mouth on his cheek, the scrape of two-day old stubble as he turns, lips soft and plump and warm. 

By the time Rodney comes to his room, knocking softly on the door, it’s already dark and John has showered twice, polished his boots once, read the same paragraph of War and Peace over and over for three hours, and obsessively straightened out his entire room (including the insides of his wardrobe and drawers). 

Rodney looks apprehensive when John opens the door, shuffles in slowly when John steps aside. 

“Uh...Colonel...yes, right...I...I owe you an apology, I wasn’t in my right mind, I wasn’t thinking clearly, at all, I was distracted and I hadn’t slept in two days and that’s really no excuse I know, but I didn’t know what I was doing and surely a man can be forgiven a teeny tiny little error in judgement, not that you are in any way unkissable, no, obviously with the women and the goddesses and whatnot, but I really didn’t mean to do that, I am so very sorry, please don’t hit me.” 

Rodney takes a huge breath and just stands there, eyes down, hands clenched,  _ braced for impact, _ looking miserable and scared, like John really might hit him and,  _ fuck...  _

“Rodney.” 

Rodney looks up, fixes his gaze on John’s left shoulder, and  _ how long has he been freaking out for? _

“Rodney.” 

John steps forward and Rodney flinches, so he slowly lifts his hands and puts them on Rodney’s shoulders. He squeezes gently, trying to reassure him that no matter what, John’s never going to take a swing at him. He’s trying to find words but they fail him, just as his thoughts have failed him all day and then, suddenly, he finds himself leaning forward, face inching closer to Rodney’s. He closes his eyes and drags his jaw against Rodney’s left cheek, and he’s not sure if it’s him or Rodney who squeaks, but it’s all good so he tilts down and drags his lips across as well, stopping at the corner of Rodney’s mouth, waiting for permission. Rodney’s hands come up and grip his biceps, and he moans so softly it’s almost a whisper, so John glides his lips across and gently presses them to Rodney’s own. 

When they pull back, they both grin, then laugh, still holding onto each other, trembling with something new, something scary, something they’ve never considered before, but now that it’s begun it feels like it always was. 

“Hungry?” asks Rodney. 

“Yeah...yeah,  let's get something to eat.” 

John pulls away, shuffles his boots on, laces loose and flapping, and Rodney makes to leave. John follows, knows he'll keep following wherever this takes them.


End file.
